Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pulp of the Week - Adam Garcia's Green Lama Unbound

The Green Lama Unbound may very well be the biggest novel put out yet by the retro pulp publisher, Airship 27 Productions / Cornerstone books.

Adam Garcia is a big Green Lama fan and friend of the blog - see interview here.

Unbound takes the Green Lama in several new directions. Garcia is not satisfied with the versions of the Lama that creator Kendell Foster Crossen has given us so far - the original pulp, the radio show, and the vintage comics. In the course of this book, Garcia combines them into a new Green Lama. One that uses the best of all of his predecessors, including the events of Airship 27's first Green Lama Volume (including references to the story by your truly.)

The other major addition to the Lama canon in this outing is the blending of the Lamaverse with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

This is not just an adventure that takes us to the roots of the Green Lama's origins, but takes us into his future and through alternate timelines and possibly other dimensions as well.

The supporting cast is a veritable who's who of the pulps and the Mythos. Lama regular Jean Farrell gets a thorough work out in this volume and I think that Garcia must have as big a crush on her as I do. She is a great character and a joy to write. Garcia stretches her to the breaking point and pushes her sanity right to the edge and she just takes it like a champ.

Unbound digs into the roots of the Lama's powers and origin for the first time in any novel. Through a series of flashbacks at the start of each chapter Garcia reshapes the history of the Lama in an exciting and respectful way. Some purists may object, but sometimes change is necessary to go forward.

Adam Garcia has done his homework like no other contemporary Green Lama storyteller and shares a few tidbits from his research into Kendell

Crossen's archives in the back of the book along with a timeline.

Mike Fyles' art captures the pulp spirit with panache and energy. His contributions to the book are enormous and I only wish there was more art.

If you like Cthulhu, pulp action, crazy cultists, and all kinds of crazy s#it then I think you will like The Green Lama Unbound. I sure did.

I give The Green Lama Unbound an 8 out of 10. There were a few too many pulp characters thrown into the mix for my taste. But once you get into the third act you will not be able to put down the book. It has a very satisfying conclusion and I can't wait to read Garcia's next effort. He has already announced The Green Lama: Crimson Circle.

If you are going to buy it at Amazon, please use the link to the right. In fact if you are ever going to Amazon, please use the link to the right. It costs you nothing and it will help me buy more books and games to review and to add custom stuff to.